Those New Shoes
by NaLu.1996
Summary: Natsu and Lucy are childhood friends: he has inherited his cobbler father's shop and she is a runaway, extremely devoted to him yet unaware of his feelings of first love for her.
1. The First Encounter

On one fateful Wednesday, in the middle of autumn, two children – a boy and a girl, both aged seven – met. The little girl's name was Lucy Heartfilia, the daughter of one of Fiore's wealthiest tycoon families. The youth, by the name of Natsu Dragneel, was the son of Magnolia's one and only cobbler, Igneel. That afternoon, Lucy and her mother Layla went in town to see to her new shoes. Since it was Lucy's first ever trip to the cobbler's store, it was a very special day and being the inquisitive child she was, excitement was bursting inside her.

The store was the most ancient building Lucy had ever seen in her short life. The letters I and S in the peeling white-painted sign, _Igneel's Shoes_, was tilted to the left and it was seriously in danger of falling off. The window-panes looked beaten down from the many weather conditions it had been through. It must have been a very long time since the shelves, lamps and floors were wiped clean for the dust had collected on the surfaces so thick it was like a fine layer of icing sugar. And there they were, those beauties! Sitting peacefully in neatly arranged rows were shoes made from different types of materials: genuine and synthetic leather, rubber, fiber and plastic fabric.

Igneel the cobbler was a kind, homely man in his mid-forties: gentle of speech and mild of manner. He was on good terms with Layla who was a regular customer and a fine acquaintance to talk to. But when he spied tiny Lucy holding her mother's hands, his creased face softened some more. She was a pretty thing and the spitting image of Layla.

"My, Layla," he said. "Is that dear sweet Miss Lucy I see?"

Lucy was a lively child, keen to introduce herself to everybody and make new friends. "Yes, Mr Igneel! My name is Lucy and I am seven years old!"

The parents laughed. "Oh, that is wonderful! I have a son, who is also seven: his name is Natsu. He is very shy and doesn't have many friends. Perhaps you two can be friends? Would you like that?"

Lucy had never had any friends _her age_. Throughout her childhood the only friends she'd ever had were her mother, father, the servants and the staff that had been around all her life. To think she would have a play-mate the same age as her and then go to school with! Her brown eyes glimmered. "Oh, yes please! Can I see him? Is he here?"

Igneel called for his son over. When the child appeared anybody could see that he, indeed, was a timid, tearful little thing. His hair colour resembled that of the flesh of salmon fish; it was spiky, probably by nature. His body was weak, skinny and fragile, but he was still a little taller than Lucy. He was one of those children in the playground whom everyone ignored and whom stronger little boys would taunt and tease until he sobbed. In spite of this, never had Lucy been so delighted. Her mind ticked like a longcase clock. The next moment anyone knew, she flew over to Natsu and hugged with him all her might, frightening him. He burst into tears. Natsu's father comforted him, introducing Lucy to him and notifying that she was going to be his new friend from then on. Igneel urged them to shake hands.

"Hello Natsu!" said Lucy, giving his hands a sympathetic squeeze. "My name is Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia! I'm seven years old, like you! I'll like us to be best friends, the **best** there ever was!" Natsu murmured an "Alright", still recovering from his shock.

When Lucy was about to leave _Igneel's Shoes_ with her mother she gave Natsu a special wave. "I will be back, Natsu! Wait for me!" Behind the counter Natsu's face peeked at her upbeat pretty face, coyly wriggled his fingers and blushed a bit when she smiled broadly.

After mother and daughter were out of sight, Igneel ruffled his son's hair. "You liiiiike her!" he teased making Natsu blush some more and retreat to hide in his room upstairs. She was a blessing in his life, and his first love.


	2. Lucy's First Day At Fairy Tail Academy

Just as destiny planned, Natsu and Lucy were the best bosom friends there ever was. They did everything together, and confided each other their secrets, aspirations and dreams, in spite of the fact that they were from different social divisions and attended different schools. Gradually Natsu learned to become more confident in everything he did but there were still incidents where Lucy had to jump in and help deal with the bullies. Life was perfect for the two children until three years later, when they were both ten years old, Lucy's dearest mother Layla passed away due to tuberculosis.

~**XXX**~

It had been three weeks since Natsu had seen or heard from Lucy, too long that Natsu began to long for her. One afternoon when the boy was coming home from school, he went to the park where he and Lucy always played, hoping to find her there. The park was beautiful and calmed the senses of anyone who entered it, filled with sycamore trees and berry bushes, and a playground where the little ones hung out. He found her buried under a spiky rose shrub. She looked up; her face was covered with bleeding scars from the thorns. Natsu touched her cheek and found that it was wet.

He enfolded her in his arms. "I'm so sorry," he said. "You don't know how sorry I am about your mother. But, you know Lucy... I am here if you need to talk; if you, um, want me by your side. That's why –"

Lucy snuggled deeper into his embrace and stopped crying. "Thank you," she mumbled into his shirt. "Thank you Natsu, for always being there for me." She drew back. "But I am fine, really."

Of course, even Natsu could tell that she was lying. She wasn't alright; she hadn't been since Layla's death. She was so furious with God Himself for stealing her mother away that she cursed Him, vowing to never believe or pray to Him again. She even put the blame on everyone around her which just made them more worried about her. Grieving. Anger. Taking it out on others. None of them changed anything. It didn't bring Layla back and Lucy was forced to learn this the hard way. Natsu held her closer and it was with him, not with her father Jude or the housekeeper Mrs Spetto, that she let her feelings flow.

* * *

**SEVEN YEARS LATER...**

**Date:** _22nd January X795_

Now 17 years old, Natsu proceeded to take over the shop founded by his great-grandfather. He, like his father before him, had inherited the Dragneel family's exceptional shoemaking skills; his passion for the profession enabled him to create remarkable footwear. But Natsu's happiest moments came when he was specially designing shoes for Lucy, and they always turned out absolutely magnificent. Lucy particularly loved to wear the knee-high boots, flats and pointed heels he made but she favoured his ballet pumps most. Natsu would always add an embellishment to the shoes he finished: two woven salmon-pink flower heads on a brass ring. He wasn't sure if Lucy ever noticed.

Over those seven years Natsu fell more deeply in love with Lucy, whether he was in her presence or merely thinking of her. Their friendship grew to be closer and more intimate than a mother and child's bond, more honest and loving than a couple's affections for one another. She herself was oblivious to his feelings and remained faithfully devoted to him, still assisting him when possible. But a recent falling-out with her father about two months ago had led Lucy to run away, where she eventually rented an apartment on Strawberry Street. Natsu had recommended her his school Fairy Tail Academy; the interview with the headmaster Mr Makarov Dreyar was overall successful and Lucy was due to attend classes next week when the new school year began.

It had been about seven and a half years since Lucy's mother's death but that didn't stop Lucy from writing letters to Layla, chronicling her daily doings and feelings. The evening before she started her new school, she saw the first ever shoes Natsu made when they were eleven and he was just an amateur cobbler. Lucy smiled to herself, remembering the day he placed them on her feet and hesitantly kissed her cheeks when she laughingly told him to, as she climbed in bed.

~**XXX**~

Lucy woke up with a start to the sound of her alarm beeping. _7.00 a.m.,_ it read. Natsu had pinky-promised to pick her up so they could walk to school together. She went to the bathroom and had a shower, then raided her wardrobe for her uniform. When she first saw other students wearing it she squealed in optimism. _It's so adorable!_ she thought to herself. The attire consisted of a white short-sleeved blouse, a black and red tartan skirt and tie, knee-length red tights and a white-collared black blazer. Then she fixed some breakfast, cleaned up and grabbed her bag just as Natsu knocked on her door. The best friends never ran out of things to talk about, with Lucy being the most talkative.

When she received her new time-table, Natsu and Lucy were contented to learn they were going to be in the same form-room and most of the same classes such as Extension 4 Mathematics, Chemistry, Society and Culture, Financial Services, and Industrial Technology. Their form teacher was the Head of Sciences, Mr Gildarts Clive, who was Natsu's favourite Physics teacher. Lucy stood in front of the class and gave a light-hearted spiel about herself. The other students just stared at Lucy in wonder when she sat down next to Natsu at the end of the room, overwhelmed at how beautiful she was. They all rushed at her, surrounding her like she was prey, when the bell that signalled first period rang. Natsu had left for his Modern History lesson.

"Hey there Lucy!" A girl her age with chopped white hair was approaching her. "My name is Lisanna Strauss. It's very nice to meet you! Let me introduce you to my friends. This is Levy McGarden, Juvia Lockser and that's Cana Alberona over there," she said, pointing to a short blue-haired girl holding a thick book on Fiore, a pale-skinned beauty with hair the same cerulean as Levy's, and then a tall lightly tanned young woman clutching a brown bottle of some unknown liquid and wavy dark brown hair.

"It's very lovely to meet you all!" Lucy chirruped happily to everyone. "I just transferred here from Queenswood Elite Academy For Ladies."

"_Queenswood_, huh?" repeated Lisanna. "If I remember correctly, it's this upper-class school for the daughters of nobility and aristocracy. Could it be that you're an heiress, Lucy?" People gaped at her.

"Not anymore I'm not," said Lucy. "Anyways, do any of you know where Miss Aries' Geography class is?"

"That's what I have now!" Levy told her excitedly. "You can sit next to me in class!"

"Alright!" Lucy was making more friends in her first hour at a new school than she expected she would.

~**XXX**~

The lunch bell chimed so loud it was enough to burst one's eardrums. Natsu and Lucy wedged their way from the Science department to the cafeteria, through the stampede of famished students. The cafeteria was a whole new experience for Lucy because at Queenswood, lunch seemed more like an hour and a half's lecture on table etiquette and social graces in the school's luxurious dining room.

"**1.** _Do not slouch or recline – _**always**_ maintain a correct posture!_

**2.**_ Never rest your elbows on the table or lean on them during consumption!_

**3.**_ Your knife should be held firmly in your right hand, with the handle tucked into your palm, the thumb down one side of the handle and your index finger along the top!_

**4.**_ When finished eating, place your knife and fork, with the tines facing upwards, together at six o'clock on your plate!" _Lucy whispered to herself, quoting Madame Honeyball's high-pitched metallic French accent and picturing the way her overly moist lips would form a grim line every time she said it.

Learning table manners at Queenswood was undoubtedly mundane. It was probably why Lucy enjoyed the cafeteria's atmosphere so much, admiring the freedom students had at this school. She ordered a Fattoush, a small bread roll and a bottle of mineral water, standing next to Natsu who held a tray heavily laden with food, both not knowing where to sit.

"Over here!" Lucy saw Lisanna and Levy waving from where they were sitting, both gesturing for her and Natsu to sit down with them and a few others on their table. Juvia and Cana were waiting for them too. Lucy became introduced to their lunch companions: a boy with dark raven hair who's probably in the year above named Gray Fullbuster; two beautiful young women two years above Lucy and Natsu: one with sleek claret-coloured hair (Erza Scarlet, the school captain) and the other had white hair very similar to Lisanna but hers was curlier and longer, a tiny ponytail pointing upwards on her forehead (Fairy Tail Academy's vice-captain, Mirajane Strauss who was also Lisanna's older sister); a young man of unspecified age, with long black spiky hair slicked back and many studs adorning his face and arms called Gajeel Redfox; and an extremely good-looking orange-haired young man whose flirtatious eyes were framed by sun-shades even though they were indoors, named Loke.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Lucy nodded politely.

"Hey Dragneel, how did you manage to snag yourself such a hot girl?" Gray appealed to Natsu who was quite surprised that one of the most popular guys was talking to him, the geekiest nerd in Fairy Tail Academy.

"She's just my childhood friend, that's all," Natsu explained innocently. "We've known each other since we were seven."

"He's more like a beloved brother to me," Lucy winked at him making him self-conscious. "We're so close to each other that we've even shared a bed!"

Gray catcalled. "Natsu, you're bolder than I thought you were!"

Lucy laughed, pounding Natsu's back. "Are you kidding me, Gray?! He used to think something was hiding under his bed, and he'd be so afraid he refused to get off the bed in the middle of the night, not even to go to the toilet!"

Everyone laughed except Natsu who looked out the window. "But," Lucy added in a gentle voice so that the others couldn't hear. "That's what I love about him." Only Mirajane overheard and she gave a brief chuckle.

~**XXX**~

"Can you please hang out with me at the library, Lu?" Levy begged Lucy the minute school finished.

"Sure, no problem!" agreed Lucy, gathering her textbooks and slinging her bag over her shoulders.

They met Natsu along the way but he ignored her and walked away when Lucy waved at him. She apologised to Levy and hastened speed to catch up to him. There was an awkward silence between the two and they sauntered idly before stopping to sit at the edge of a pier overlooking the ocean horizon.

"Your father used to bring us here when we were kids," Lucy reminisced, running her fingers through her windswept hair and swinging her legs. "Remember the times we fished here and we almost never had a bite? I still remember all the facts about fishing that Igneel taught you and me, like to always dip your hands in ice water before handling caught fish." She rested her head on Natsu's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for embarrassing you at lunch today," Lucy pardoned, feeling a little ashamed. "I sometimes get so full of myself that I forget how sensitive you were."

"It's not you. I'm the problem here so you needn't apologise."

"OK." Lucy decided to change the subject. "My first day turned out great. Everyone was so nice and welcoming I feel like they're my new family. When Mama died, all feelings of safety and warmth I used to feel died along with her. My father always made me insecure and lonely and that's why I was scared... I was scared that might never feel this way ever again."

Natsu put his arms around her and held her close to his chest, making sure to always keep her safe and loved. Though Lucy's barely feeling anything because she thought she was unloved by the world, not realising that he has protected and loved her ever since they met.


End file.
